Leveling device



May 28, 1957 MOOSER 2,793,468

LEVELING DEVICE Filed June 22, 1954 EVEL D V CE Alfred Mouser, Bern, Switzerland Application June2-2, 1954, Serial. No. 438,581 Claims. (Cl. 45-439) Thepresent invention relates to a leveling device that may be used on a piece of furniture, for instance a. table, a c 'hair, a stand, a garden shade and the like, with four supports, each of which establishing a bearing'spot and of which supports two are rigidly fixed, whereas the other two supports, rigidly interconnected and slewable on a substantially horizontal axis, are thus linked to the remainder portion of the body of furniture, whereby the piece of furniture is adapted to bear automatically with all of its four supports on the ground, even if the latter is uneven.

It is an object of the invention to provide a leveling device which is linked to a slewable pair of supports and is movably in respect to a projection on said body of furniture, and further to provide detachable fixing means for stepless fixation of said linked member with said projection, which fixing means, when slackened, allow automatic adjustment of said pair of supports and, when tightened, retain said pair of supports in the attained position.

The accompanying drawing illustrates two embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 1 is an elevation view onto the narrow side of a table, in accordance with a first embodiment.

Fig. 2 is an elevation view onto one of the long sides of a table in accordance with a second embodiment, and

Fig. 3 is a vertical section with a side view onto the left pair of supports in Fig. 2.

In both embodiments of the four-footed table the feet and 11, respectively, are rigidly interconnected, two by two, by a pair of supports 12 and 13, respectively. The pairs of supports 12 and 13, respectively, are each fixed by twos on an upright 14 of the rigid frame which supports the table board 15, the supporting pair 12 being rigidly connected and the supporting pair 13 being slewably mounted on a substantially horizontal axle 16 arranged at the lower end of the corresponding upright 14, so that the table may automatically bear on the supporting surface of the ground with all of its four feet 10 and 11, respectively, even if the ground is not level.

At the table according to Fig. 1 a rod 17 is linked to the slewable pair of uprights 13 excentrically of the slew- .ing axis of the latter, which rod extends to a side projection 18 of the upright 14 and projects beyond the latter. In the neighborhood of the rod 17 the projection 18 has the shape of a gripping jaw 19 with which another gripping jaw 20 linked to the said projection 18 and arranged on the opposite side of the rod 17, cooperates under the action of a nut illustrated locking spring, in order to fix the rod 17 steplessly in any position. By opening the movable gripping jaw 20 by hand, the pair of supports 13 is allowed to automatically adjust itself according to the unevenness of the supporting ground, whereas when the rod 17 is gripped by the jaws 19, 20 it will arrest the pair of supports 13 in the momentary position. The surface of the rod 17 and the gripping surface of the jaws are such that the friction 2,793,468 a ented. M y-1 1. 5.

between these contacting surfaces is as effective as possible. The jaws could, for instance, be lined with rub.- ber and the contacting surface of the rod be roughed.-

At the table according to Figs. 2 and 3 the slewing axle '16 of the pair of supports 13 is arranged, laterally of the upright 14, inside an U-shaped piece 21 of sheet; metal which is downwardly. bent, whereas just below the, upright 14 a rod 23 is linked to an eye 22 of the pair of supports 13 which rod extends upwardly inside the tubular upright 14 and projects at. a throat 24. of the latter. The projecting threadedend 25 of the rod. 23 crosses a lateral projection 26 of the upright 14 and is provided with a right-handed and a left-handed thread so that correspondlug nuts 27 may approach the projection 26 from above and from below, respectively, or may be withdrawn from the same. With the lock-nuts 27 slackened, the'pair of upp s 1 s ee to ad us t e f to unev nnesse o he ear ound eas byt ht nin ba lacknuts in the same direction of rotation until bearing on the projection 26, the pair of supports 13 may be steplessly fixed in its adjusted position. In order to allow the lock-nuts to be rotated conjointly by the palm of the hand they are provided with a cylindric knurled surface.

The other pair of supports 12 has a substantially horizontal axle 28 arranged at right angles to the slewing axle 16 of the pair of supports 13 and therewith slewably and fixably mounted in a gripping bearing 29 arranged at the lower end of the corresponding upright 14 with the purpose to adjust the board 15 of the table, even when the table stands on a slanting ground, to a horizontal position by slewing the pair of supports 12 into an inclined position, as shown in Fig. 2.

The threaded end 25 of the rod could just as well have a right-hand or a left-hand thread only, in which case, however, the direction of rotation of one of the two nuts would be opposite to the direction of the rotation of its mate, be it for tightening, be it for slackening. A further embodiment may consist of an arrangement in which the threaded portion is integral with the projection and tubular and has a longitudinal slot through which a nose of a rod being axially displaceable inside the threaded portion, projects in order to get fixed by the lock-nuts or released by the same.

It is a matter of course that the table according to Fig. 1 could just as well be fitted with a threaded rod and lock-nuts instead of the gripping device and that in the table of Fig. 2 a gripping device could substitute for the threaded rod and lock-nuts. Further could a gripping device, other than that described, be used, such as, for instance, jamming excenters, tipping rings and the like. Further could the rod linked to the slewable pair of supports, the projection and the members of the fixing device be lodged inside the upright and only operating means could be arranged on the external surface of the upright.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and herein described, it will be understood that the same is capable of further modifications without departure from the general scope and spirit of the invention as defined in the claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A leveling device comprising two pair of supports, one pair of supports being rigidly fixed and the other pair of supports being slewable, a pair of upright rods, each rod mounting one pair of supports at one end, and said pair of rods mounting a member to be supported at their other ends, a second rod adjacent and substantially parallel to one of said upright rods, said second rod being pivotally connected to said slewable support,

and a gripping means adapted to engage said second rod and carried by said adjacent upright rod.

2. A leveling device comprising two pair of supports, ports, one pair of supports being rigidly fixed and the other pair of supports being slewable, a pair of upright rods, each rod mounting one pair of supports at one end, and said pair of rods mounting a member to be supported at their other ends, one of said rods being hollow and mounting said slewable support, a second rod within said hollow rod pivotally connected to said slewable support, and gripping means on said hollow rod adapted to engage said second rod.

' 3. A leveling device comprising two pair of supports, one pair of supports being rigidly fixed and the other pair of supports being slewable, a pair of upright rods, each rod mounting one pair of supports at one end, and said pair of rods mounting a member to be supported at their other ends, one of said rods being hollow and having an ofi-set portion, a U-shaped member carried by said hollow rod and pivotally interconnecting said rod and said slewable support, a second rod within said hollow rod and also pivotally connected to said slewable support, and gripping means attached to said offset portion adapted to engage'said'second rod.

4. A leveling device according to claim 3, said second rod extending from within said hollow rod at said 01tset portion, and said gripping means engaging said extended portion of said second rod.

5. A leveling device according to claim 3, said second rod extending from within said hollow rod at said offset portion and provided with right-handed and lefthanded threads, and a pair of lock nuts for said threads adapted to engage with said gripping means.

References Cited in the file of this patent" UNITED STATES PATENTS 274,162 Wilson Mar. 20, 1883 520,432 Humphreys May 29, 1894 1,901,947 Bescherer Mar. 21, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS 210,074 Great Britain Mar. 27, 1924 390,598 Great Britain Apr. 13, 1933 

